Chapter 10~ A Choice In Blood
1192 Words
Elena’s hands trembled at her sides.
She stared at Marco—bruised, bleeding, barely holding on—then at Adrian, who stood motionless, waiting.
Waiting for her to react.
Her heart pounded so hard it drowned out every other sound in the room.
“You expect me to believe this?” she whispered, her voice hollow.
Marco coughed weakly, wincing as the motion sent another wave of blood spilling from his cracked lips. “I swear it. Your father—he was never coming for you.” His gaze burned into hers. “You’re nothing but a pawn to him.”
Elena clenched her jaw, willing herself to stay standing.
She wanted to scream.
To deny it.
To demand that he take back those words, that this was some cruel, twisted trick.
But deep inside, a dark, suffocating truth was rising.
She had spent her whole life justifying her father’s coldness. His ruthlessness.
Telling herself it was just how things were.
That one day, she’d prove herself enough.
Worthy enough.
Important enough.
But this?
This was unforgivable.
A sharp exhale left her lips as she turned to Adrian. His dark eyes were locked onto her, patient, calculating.
“Elena.” His voice was quiet, but firm. “What do you want to do?”
She snapped her gaze to him.
“What?”
Adrian gestured to Marco, who groaned weakly in the chair.
“I don’t need him anymore,” Adrian said. “But you might.”
Elena’s stomach twisted.
He was giving her a choice.
Her father had never given her a choice in anything.
And now, she had one that could change everything.
She swallowed. If she let Marco go, he could warn her father—tell him she knew the truth.
But if she didn’t…
Her fingers curled into fists.
She stepped closer, eyes narrowing. “Tell me the truth,” she whispered. “Did you know?”
Marco didn’t answer right away.
That was enough.
Elena inhaled sharply, her chest aching. Even Marco had betrayed her.
He had been there since she was a child.
He had taught her how to shoot, how to lie, how to survive.
And yet, when it came down to it, he had stayed silent while her father bartered away her life like she was nothing.
A cold calm settled over her, like ice creeping through her veins.
She turned to Adrian.
“Let him go.”
Adrian’s brows lifted slightly, as if she had surprised him.
Marco gasped, his swollen eyes widening in shock. “Elena—”
She faced him one last time.
“If you go back to my father,” she said, voice like steel, “tell him one thing.”
Marco swallowed hard. “What?”
Her next words were venom.
“He just made his worst enemy.”
Silence hung between them.
Marco’s lips parted slightly, his face draining of color.
Adrian exhaled slowly, then turned to his men. “Take him. Drop him off far enough away that he’ll have to crawl back.”
His men nodded, grabbing Marco’s arms and dragging him from the room. He didn’t resist.
Elena didn’t watch them go.
She was too busy feeling the last pieces of her old self shatter.
Her father was dead to her.
And she was done being someone else’s pawn.
A quiet breath ghosted against her cheek.
Adrian.
He had stepped closer, his presence suffocating in its intensity.
“You made the right choice,” he murmured.
Elena’s gaze flicked to his, searching for mockery.
She found none.
Her throat tightened. “I didn’t make the right choice.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I made the only one left.”
Adrian didn’t respond right away.
Then—
“Come with me.”
Elena stiffened, her guard snapping back into place.
She turned to him, wary. “Where?”
His gaze was steady.
“It’s time you knew the rest of the truth.”
Her pulse fluttered in her throat. “And if I don’t want to hear it?”
A dark smile ghosted across Adrian’s lips.
“Then you’re lying to yourself.”
He was right.
And that infuriated her.
But instead of arguing, she squared her shoulders and followed him out of the room.
Adrian led her down a narrow hallway, his pace slow, measured.
Elena’s thoughts spun wildly.
What could be worse than what she had already learned?
What could Adrian possibly tell her that would change anything now?
She was done being manipulated.
Done being lied to.
Yet as she followed him into a sleek, high-tech office lined with monitors, she knew—
She wasn’t done at all.
Because the moment she stepped inside, her breath caught.
Surveillance screens flickered, showing live feeds of locations she recognized—
Her father’s estate.
His office.
His private meeting rooms.
And there, on one of the biggest screens—
Her father sat at his desk, speaking in low, measured tones.
With her fiancé.
Elena’s stomach twisted violently.
Lorenzo.
The man her father had arranged for her to marry.
The man she had hated from the moment she met him.
Her blood ran cold as she listened.
“She’s no longer useful to us,” Lorenzo was saying, his voice smooth, detached.
Her father leaned back in his chair, nodding. “Agreed.”
Elena felt like she was going to be sick.
They were discussing her like a business deal that had fallen through.
Like she was already dead.
“She’s DeLuca’s problem now,” her father continued.
Lorenzo smirked. “Then let him be the one to bury her.”
The air rushed from Elena’s lungs.
Something shattered inside her.
She had thought her father’s betrayal was the worst of it.
She had been wrong.
Adrian’s voice was quiet. “Still think you don’t need to hear the rest of the truth?”
Elena swallowed, forcing herself to meet his gaze.
Adrian had known about this.
He had planned for her to see it.
And he had been right.
She needed to see it.
She needed to burn away every last shred of hope that her father would regret his choices.
She turned back to the screen.
Lorenzo was still talking. “We’ll move forward with the expansion. Without her interference.”
Her father nodded. “Good.”
The conversation ended.
The screen went black.
Elena inhaled slowly, her hands trembling.
She wasn’t just disposable to her father.
She was an obstacle.
And obstacles got eliminated.
A slow, creeping rage filled her chest.
A rage unlike anything she had ever felt before.
She turned to Adrian.
“I want in.”
He tilted his head. “In?”
“In your war,” she clarified, voice deadly calm. “Whatever your plan is—I want in.”
Adrian studied her for a long moment.
Then, a slow, dark smile spread across his lips.
“Welcome to the game, Elena.”
She smiled back, but there was no warmth in it.
Because she was done playing by her father’s rules.
And now, it was her turn to make the next move.
- Writer
